The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
The fragile keep secrets
Gathered in pockets
And they'll sell them for nothing
A cheap watch or locket
That kind of gold just washes off
And the sad act like lepers
They stick to the shadows
They long to ring bells of warning
To tell of their coming
So that the pure can shut their doors
And the angry are animals
Senseless and savage
They act without order
In logical lapses
They stain their mouths with blood
So take my hand
This barren land is alive tonight
Oh, the corn has grown stalks
That form a wall to hide
But the wind carries sounds
That I can't see from beyond that line
Then the stalks begin to sway
Oh, so stay with me, Arienette
'Til the wolves are away
Yup
Well, the wicked are vultures
And they bake in the canyons
They circle in sunlight
And wait for their victims
To collapse and call to them
And the desperate are water
They'll run down forever
And they soak into silence
And end up together
In a dark and distant, dark and distant place
So don't leave me here with only mirrors watching me
This house, it holds nothing but the memories
And the moon, it leaves silver but never sleep
Then the silver turns to gray
Oh, you stay with me, Arienette
Until the wolves are away
Gathered in pockets
And they'll sell them for nothing
A cheap watch or locket
That kind of gold just washes off
And the sad act like lepers
They stick to the shadows
They long to ring bells of warning
To tell of their coming
So that the pure can shut their doors
And the angry are animals
Senseless and savage
They act without order
In logical lapses
They stain their mouths with blood
So take my hand
This barren land is alive tonight
Oh, the corn has grown stalks
That form a wall to hide
But the wind carries sounds
That I can't see from beyond that line
Then the stalks begin to sway
Oh, so stay with me, Arienette
'Til the wolves are away
Yup
Well, the wicked are vultures
And they bake in the canyons
They circle in sunlight
And wait for their victims
To collapse and call to them
And the desperate are water
They'll run down forever
And they soak into silence
And end up together
In a dark and distant, dark and distant place
So don't leave me here with only mirrors watching me
This house, it holds nothing but the memories
And the moon, it leaves silver but never sleep
Then the silver turns to gray
Oh, you stay with me, Arienette
Until the wolves are away
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Gad... My friend and I kept rewinding the part where he's all 'YEP!' and asking it ridiculous questions
"Are you secretly a woman?"
"-YEP!"
"Do you own a fax machine?"
"-YEP!"
Goodtimes...
I think he's done what he does so many times, with this song: taken two completely unrelated concepts, and woven them together into a song. Look at "A Scale...", it includes basically 4 different themes which, alone, would not stand up as a song, but together are just related enough to make a coherent mood, while each part tells its own unique message. Here, I believe the verses to be critiques of society and those people within it that Conor believes to be useless portions: the angry, the fragile (overly-sensitive), the sad (flagrantly depressed), etc. The chorus, I believe, is about what Sweetygal put: Arienette, whose significance I have yet to puzzle out, except maybe as a protectionist figure, is being called to by Conor, who sees her, an external entity, as being critical to curing his self-loathing (via the mirrors) and his inner demons (the wolves).
Just a psychological note: The first step out of an egocentric stage is reaching out for help, or realizing that there is something with value in your life. Arienette could stand for both of these things. Also, most people in egocentric phases would be described as "depressed," though Conor's seems to go a bit better than a temporary stage of disgusted introspection. As such, I hope that the song is a way for Conor to begin feeling better about his life and situation.
man.. who else loves when conor says "yup!" really loudly? raises her hand i love little things like that. :)
I've always thought that when art is "great" it can be apreciated/understood/enjoyed on many different levels. Bright Eyes is a great band. Every single one of their songs holds meaning and weight. Everyone who listens to them comes away with their own ideas and feelings. On top of that the music is very good. How can you not enjoy these guys?
Take the name of the band. The mood of their songs are anything but bright, but damn aren't the lyrics bright.
i think the line "oh stay with me arienette, until the wolves are away" to me shows he has dependance, and that he is vulnerable. He needs this imaginary (or not) security to help him get through all the bad things, and fears, or the wolves, and needs help through all of that until they are gone. Its almost as if he's begging, he needs it and maybe he doesnt have it and thats why he's inventing this girl to help him through anything. and everything.
what caught me was "So don't leave me here with only mirrors watching me" for me this means he's scared to look at himself as he's scared to see the weak, sad, angry, wicked, and desperate traits that he's describing, within himself. He wants this Arienette, the girl who he sees as pure, to take him away from all the horrible things a person can have within themselves, and perhaps the things he himself has done. She's his silver lining.
And then the silver turns to gray so syat with me Arienette until the wolves are away...this song makes me cry. It is so beautiful. I would love to sing this song to someone that used to be a very big part of my life. His use of metaphors and symbolism in this song is amazing, "so don't leave me here with only mirrors watching me." "The wicked are vultures." Anyways, what a beautiful and meaningful song.
You are right. This song has some of the best metaphors and symbolism on the album. I think an important concept in this album is that he is suffering from a fever and has these wicked dreams because of it. For example when he says "The wicked are vultures, they bake in the canyons. They circle in sunlight and wait for their victims to collapse and call to them." The wicked only come out at night when he is sleeping...ie. when he collapses.
Ah, by better, I meant more serious. Not sure how better came out, I think I was listening to a song at the time. Sorry.
another bright eyes song with a name in the title, or in this case, THE title. i think the ones with names are always more romantic. this song reminds me of 'padraic my prince.' it makes me want to cry.